Reading the Bible, Part 10

I've put off writing the last part of this series long enough. Thinking about the Bible is just a low priority compared to raising kids, working, exercising, entertainment, taking care of the house, or even doing nothing at all. But it's been five years and I love to criticize, so let's finish this.

Paul's church:

Paul the Apostle (Saul of Tarsus) may be the single most influential person in human history. When I see and hear the values of the two billion Christians in the world, I don't see the teachings of Jesus. I see the teachings of Paul. There are only four books in the Bible that are about the life of Jesus. They mostly repeat one another and were written decades after Jesus's death by people who had never met him. However, Paul wrote down exactly what he wanted and it's included in the Bible as letters to the Romans, the Corinthians, the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Philippians, the Colossians, the Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. When I was a child, these were just funny names. I had no concept that there were ancient cities with names like Corinth and Ephesus that had communities where the religion grew. Of course, it's not easy to grow a religion, especially in a world without cars or microphones or internet. But Paul did it. He took a fringe Jewish sect and mass-marketed it so that it would reach into the minds of billions over the millennia.

Jesus presented himself as the messiah that was foretold to reign over the earthly kingdom of Israel. Jesus was focused on Jewish people, he wanted to fulfill the law of Moses, and he taught that repentance and baptism is necessary for salvation. Paul preached that Jesus was Lord of the supernatural kingdom of Heaven. Paul disregarded ancient customs and sought to spread the religion to the entire world. Paul emphasized grace, not particular actions, and that faith alone is required for personal salvation. That is the majority position of Christianity today. Congratulations to Paul for his franchise's success.

Conclusion:

I'll end with this passage from First John 2:15-17: "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever."

I've written about this many times before, but that quote is a pretty good summary of the problem with religion. It's a rejection of reality and acceptance of fantasy. I often have to tell my children the difference between what's real and what's imaginary. On Halloween, the people in costumes are real but witches are imaginary. On television, Paris is a real city but the superheroes fighting crime there are imaginary. Historically, pirates are real but the way they are presented in children's fiction is imaginary. Wouldn't it be insane and abusive if I instead told them that the real things are unimportant and the imaginary things are real and valuable? How sad and confusing their life would be then. The world contains all of the actual opportunities for human happiness. You can't replace it with ideas that people made up.